Treating of animal-skin products



Patented Oct. 7, 1930 uurrsu srA'rss' ANTONIO rnnnnrrnor MILAN, mannssreuon r soom'rA mvnnzrournnnvn'rrr nuonmn 'ronmo, or roam, rrnmr Y YY resume or "Airman-emu rnonoo'rs in Drawing. ori inal application filedMay 24, 1929, Serial no. aearso, and in mi 'm 14, me. Divided. and. thisapplication filed l 'uly 15,1980. Serial No. 468,126.

'This invention relates to a process of treat-.

. ing animal skin materials or animal skin products, as distinguishedfrom the treatment of wool, hair etc., and has for oneof its objects theprov sion ofa process adapted for utilizing scraps and cuttings fromvegetable tanned hides whereby such materials may beconverted into auseful and valuable,

product which in appearance, fibrous texture and flexibility resemblesnatural leather.

It will be appreciated that my invention is of'great economical value inthat it salvages' or utilizes material which heretofore generally hasbeen converted into glues or tertilizers or simply thrown'away.

In the practice of my invention the vegetable tanned fibers of thematerial being treated are intimately Y admixed with an a ueous mediumuntil athin flowing slurry o the fibers in aqueous suspension isobtained. The proportion-of a ueous medium to the material e large so asto obtain mass or slurry. Y

To this slurry Ijadd a mineraltanning agent having a chrome base such'aschromine e desired thin flowing Y or other tanning agent containingchromium,

followed .by the addition of a neutralizin agent suchas bicarbonate of.soda, borate o 80 sodium, etc., .a suitable fiber lubricant or greasesuch as an oil or grease which is emuln sifiable in watena 'sulfuratedoil for example, a suitable binding material containing a waterinsoluble binder, the bindina ma-' as terial being misciblewith waterprior to the coagulation of the binder. such as india rubber latex guttapercha latex, balata latex. or the liire, as o tained from the trees orlants and which may have been preserved 40 y ammonia'or any othersuitable alkaline preserving material. A synthetic latex or otherbinding material containing: a water insoluble binder and which is insuitable condition for incorporation in the slurry may be substitutedfor the latices above mentioned.

I also add a preservative for the binding material, which preservativemay take the form of vegetable tannin. Among the vege- 5 table tannins Ipreferably employ those of substantial thickness. I find also that ifsoinghtreate is necessarily PATENT orrics sumac.

Inasmuch as the li uid of the slurry must be abstracted in the urtherpractice of'my process I add to the slurry a material suc as commercialsodiumchloride, the addition of this material promoting ,the abstractingof the liquid of the slurry and beinghof material advantage in themaking of s eets of the pyrogallic series, more particularly so diumchloride is added directly after the latex and before abstracting theliquid, the

process and resulting product are materially 1mXroved. Y 7

fter the above steps, the slurry is caused to flow upon a finelyperforated sup ort such as a wire gauze and the liquid of t e slurryabstracted so that a sheet of fibers is obtained with the fibersdisposed in felted relation. The material thus obtained is then rolledand pressed and subjected to the usual finishing operations employed inthefinish in of natural leathers.

it is to be understood that the amount 0 sodium chloride employed willvary depending upon the material being treated and also depending uponthe separation or the abstracting of'the liquid of the slurry that isdesired in the production of a sheet-like fibrous mass. Y

I find in the practice of my inventionthat some care must be exercisednot to allow coagulation of the binder employed to pro ceed toa'detrimental'degree before abstractins; the liquid of the slurry,inasmuch as such detrimental coagulation renders further rocessi-ng andthe properties of the finished product unsatisfactory. For example, whenemploying latex as a binding material I profor to abstract the liquid ofthe slurry within an hour of the addition of the binding mate-' rial tothe slurry. Y

This application is a division of. my copending application Serial No.365,780, filed Mav 24,1929.

What I claim is a 1. The process which comprises adding a tanning agentand a grease to a flowing aqueous slurry containing the fibrous portionsof vegetable tanned animal skin products in suspension, adding a waterinsoluble binder and a preservative therefor, and abstracting the liquidof the slurry.

2. The process which comprises adding a grease, a mineral tanning agentand a neutralizing agent to a flowmg aqueous slurry containing thefibrous portlons of vegetable tanned animal skin products in"suspension, adding latex, and abstracting the liquid of the slurry.

3. The'process which comprises adding a tanning agent and a grease to aflowing aqueous slurry containing the fibrous portions of vegetabletanned animal skin products in suspension, adding a water insolublebinder, a preservative therefor and sodium chloride, and abstracting theliquid of the slurr 4. The process which comprises adiling a grease, amineral tanning agent and a neutralizing agent to a fiowmg aqueousslurry containing the fibrous portions of vegetable tanned animal skinproducts in suspension, adding latex and sodium chloride to the slurry,and abstracting the liquid of the slurry.

This specification signed this 21st day of June, 1930.

ANTONIO FERRETTI.

